By Justin Franz 

FELTON, Calif. — The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission did not take action on a controversial plan to forcibly abandon a piece of railroad used by California’s Roaring Camp Railroads. Instead, the head of the commission has said they would like to sit down with the railroad and see if they can’t come to a compromise. 

The remarks were made during a commission meeting Thursday night in Santa Cruz and reported by the Santa Cruz Sentinal. 

Last month, the owners of Roaring Camp Railroads, began rallying public support against a proposal that would force it to abandon its rail line for freight service. The railroad said it was part of a wider plan to railbank a government-owned line and turn it into a trail. 

​​Roaring Camp currently has the contract to provide freight service on the county-owned Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line, which connects to its eight-mile Felton Branch. But some in the community would like to see the Santa Cruz line turned into a pedestrian trail. The scenic Santa Cruz line, which previously belonged to Southern Pacific and Union Pacific, runs right through Santa Cruz and along the coast.

County officials told the newspaper that they would be fine with the railroad still providing tourist trains on its own line. By forcing the railroad to abandon its own line for freight service though, it would be easier to get approval for railbanking of the government-owned line, which connects to it (and is its connection to the national rail network). But Roaring Camp’s CEO Melani Clark, said that would be a shortsighted move. She also noted that the county had previously convinced the railroad to not buy the Santa Cruz line from UP and was assured it would remain in service under government control.

The county was expected to take action on the plan last night but instead tabled it until further notice. Commission Jacques Bertrand said they would like to sit down with Clark and sort out their differences. “I am willing to do that, and I will continue to provide the commission with information in various ways. I see that as the next step,” Preston said, adding that they would like to see the tourist operation continue.